North’s Airstrip Leaves American in Peril of Losing Costa Rica Ranch
WASHINGTON — The disintegration of the Oliver L. North shipping and arms empire has left at least one expatriate American sadder and wiser after a sale of property that was used for an airstrip went awry.
A Panamanian firm set up by North, Udall Research Corp., contracted in 1985 to buy a ranch in northern Costa Rica from Joseph Hamilton, a former U.S. Air Force pilot who owns a textile firm in the capital of San Jose.
Although Hamilton refused to be interviewed, sources said that Udall made one payment of an undisclosed amount, defaulted on further payments and retreated into the shadows when a new administration under President Oscar Arias Sanchez seized the property.
“Hamilton is now trying to get title to his land back, and the legal expenses have cost him more than what he got from Udall,†a Costa Rican source said.
CIA officials and North decided to construct an airstrip in the area to build up the southern front of the Nicaraguan resistance.
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